


Enemies with Benefits

by laEsmeralda



Series: Plain Truths [6]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 01:47:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3710287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laEsmeralda/pseuds/laEsmeralda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just when Felicity thinks her life is headed in one direction, her opportunities suddenly multiply.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enemies with Benefits

Felicity arrives at the makeshift gym ten minutes early. She's fearful but resolute. Despite the neighborhood, the door has been left unlocked.

As she follows the hallway, she can hear vigorous sparring—gloves smacking flesh—and then the big room comes into view. Laurel and Nyssa are hitting each other hard, but Felicity can see that Nyssa is holding back, studying, dishing out just a tiny bit more than Laurel can easily take. Even though Laurel doesn't move her head to look, she's marginally distracted by Felicity's entrance and Nyssa takes her to the mat. A second later, she's hauling Laurel to her feet.

"Acceptable. Barely." Nyssa cocks her head. Laurel is breathing hard. Nyssa is not. "We need to work on hand positions and _distraction_ —learn how to observe your surroundings without losing focus." Nyssa folds her arms. "Consider losing the nails. They're marginal weapons at best and they interfere with gear and punching." She nods. "Dismissed."

Laurel heads to the locker room without questions, without argument. "Hey, Felicity," she says in passing, not unfriendly, but not warm. This is how it is for now.

Felicity smiles at her, still trying. "Hi." But Laurel is past her and down the hall. Felicity stills, wary. Although she's athletic, the rest of the team's penchant for war games has never interested her. She knows she has little to no physical defense should Nyssa intend to harm her. It could happen so quickly.

Nyssa rubs a cursory towel over her face and hair as she approaches. "Thank you for coming."

"It didn't really seem optional."

The hawk-sharp black gaze seems to soften infinitesimally. "I did not wish for the message to sound like a demand. It is… difficult to adapt to conversations with outsiders."

"Most military-modeled organizations sacrifice interpersonal ease for discipline. I imagine that your father's is no exception."

"I would greatly appreciate referring to him as Ra's. I'm not feeling the family aspect of our relationship at present."

"Fair enough." 

"Would you mind terribly driving us to find some refreshment? Laurel knows to lock up when she is finished."

Despite being enemies under a temporary truce, the arcanity of Nyssa's language appeals to Felicity's inner nerd. It's like speaking with a Steampunk character. She turns to conceal a smile and walks back to the car. Ninety percent of her attention tracks Nyssa, walking behind her.

"Those shoes are detrimental to your center of gravity," Nyssa observes in a neutral tone. 

"Thanks," Felicity replies with sarcasm. She glances over her shoulder. "Why are Dig and you suddenly commenting on my style sense?" She unlocks the car.

Nyssa looks puzzled. "My observation has nothing to do with style. I was remarking upon your safety. Apologies, I seem to be stuck in teaching mode. Were I to comment on your appearance, I would do so differently."

That statement does not provide much clarity. "What are you hungry for?" Felicity starts the car. She senses a sidelong glance. 

"I've not much appetite for food these days."

"Gotta keep your strength up. Hey, I know a place…."

Which is how they end up at a small Nepalese diner, with tea and yak momos appearing on the table with the greeting as a matter of course. Felicity feels fortunate that the place has tables with chairs rather than cushions. If the further restrictions of Felicity's wardrobe have occurred to Nyssa, she isn't commenting. Felicity sips tea and addresses the situation head-on. "It's quite difficult for me to feel safe, let alone to be friendly, knowing that you were Ra's second in the fight that nearly killed Oliver."

Nyssa's eyes are unreadable. "I was following orders."

"You wanted him killed. You thought he was responsible for Sara."

Nyssa looks down at her teacup. "My time apart from the League is revealing many flaws in my thinking that result from an extended… lack of perspective."

At that, Felicity cannot help but soften. This woman loved Sara, their Sara, so fiercely that she defied the expectations of one of the most powerful people on the planet and gave up her place in his line of succession. Before she can think, her hand is resting on Nyssa's. "We all miss Sara, but you, you're suffering the most with the least support. I'm sorry."

Nyssa is staring at Felicity's hand as though it's a viper. Her eyes flick to Felicity's. "You are generous. Especially since my love was also your rival." 

The way she says _my love_ is tender, heartbreaking. Felicity gently withdraws her hand. "Rival?"

"For Oliver." His name is spoken with distaste and respect. 

"Oh. Well, then half the people in Starling were my rivals. I got one kiss and a lot of pain for my trouble." Then, she corrects herself. "Slightly more than half the people, actually."

"You refer to John Diggle." Nyssa' expression borders on mischief, something Felicity has never seen in her.

Felicity makes sure her mouth doesn't gape. She doesn't dare respond.

"It's good for him. A man who tries to slake an endless thirst with too many women… something else is missing." Nyssa concentrates on eating for several bites. She shrugs. "He's different now. Without John, he might have accepted the offer to succeed Ra's."

A cold shudder ripples through Felicity, but she cannot protest the truth of the statement. She sighs. "Yes, Dig is good for him."

"I must respect any person Ra's would consider worthy, regardless of the personal slight. I am trying to demonstrate that we are not enemies, your team and I."

"Not at the moment, you mean. And when you are the next Ra's?"

"I don't think that will happen. But if it does, I believe that there is an ecosystem within the shadows. The Arrow, and all of you, are part of that ecosystem. Total destruction of any part upsets the balance that must be maintained. During Ra's reign, the League has chosen to act more on behalf of darkness than light, becoming part of the imbalance. If Oliver Queen had accepted the role, he might have restored balance."

And so might Nyssa. An interesting angle to contemplate. She thinks that Nyssa looks tired, marks of sorrow on her features if not in her perfectly level shoulders. Felicity also knows that saying so would be a rank insult. At the risk of focusing another lecture onto herself, she stifles a fake yawn and signals for the check. "Let me drive you home." 

"It is late, my apologies." Darned if Nyssa doesn't sound wistful. 

They are quiet in the car. It's a strange idea, Nyssa living in an apartment in a city. Felicity wonders how she's adapting, but then the answer is that she's enduring, as trained. When she pulls over, she smiles at Nyssa. "Walk you to your door?"

First a confused eyebrow, then a short laugh, which Nyssa covers with the back of her hand. "A worthy jest."

"Yes," Felicity agrees. 

Nyssa unbuckles her seatbelt and pauses, turns back toward Felicity. Felicity watches a hand slowly approach her face, tries not to flinch. Nyssa swipes a thumb over Felicity's bottom lip, gently, back and forth. "As for commenting on your appearance… you are a strong, beautiful woman. I see that, _underneath_ all the things you do to help the men not be intimidated by your mind." And then she's gone, the door clicking shut. 

Felicity sits for a long minute, uncomfortable heat pooling between her thighs. She drives home, suddenly glad that Ray is traveling. Otherwise, he would most likely ask her to come over. He would sense something and want to talk about it. She has no idea what to think, let alone say. And if he didn't ask, she would wonder how he could miss so much.

In the bathroom, while the shower heats, she looks at her face in the mirror. After the snack, she didn't studiously reapply lipstick as she normally would, and her lips are bare, slightly stained with what was there all day, but bare. She can feel Nyssa's thumb tracing them. Steam coalescing on the mirror begins to obscure her face.

Recently, she's been having lots of sex. A simple touch to her face should not have her on fire. Especially not from someone as _not safe_ as Nyssa. Suddenly, a memory washes over her of seeing Sara and Nyssa kiss, hungry and oblivious to whomever might see, and her panties are soaked through. 

She strips and climbs into the shower. Her logical mind hunts for explanations. It occurs to her that hypnosis could be a League tactic, more specifically, a Nyssa skill. She shampoos and scrubs perfunctorily, not allowing herself to linger. She wonders to whom she would dare talk about this. One name, and one name only arises. 

Once in sweats, she dials Roy. He picks up immediately. "Felicity."

"Roy." It's a longstanding game. "This is not a work call."

"Thank God, I just climbed into bed."

"This is not a booty call," she says with mock warning.

He laughs, a genuine laugh that she thinks might only happen between them. "I think some part of me lives for the day you don't say that," he teases. "What's up?"

She bites her lip. Hesitates. Being Roy, he waits, doesn't push. So she ends up telling him. He does not make the sort of remarks guys would make in these situations. If his brain is making pretty pictures, he's keeping them to himself. He also does not go all body guard on her like Dig would.

"Do you have an exclusive with Ray?"

"No. But that doesn't—"

"Hear me out. This is Nyssa. We have to assume danger. But she's hurting. Training Sara's sister, that's an act of lonely desperation if I've ever seen one. She's probably torn like hell, feeling like a traitor to Sara for even noticing loneliness, being drawn to you. You don't really know this about yourself so I'll just say it. You're _hot_. Her attraction is genuine. Ever done the girl-girl thing?"

The unexpected statements are piling up. "Whoa, whoa, let me catch up."

"As long as you don't waste breath protesting the hot comment."

She quells herself. "Okay. I've never been with a woman. Kissed one or two, but that's it."

There's a moment of quiet, and then Roy says in a slightly thicker voice. "I want details, but I'm trying to be good here."

"So, you think I'm hot… is this a new thing?"

He sighs. "Look, you've had big eyes for Oliver forever."

"And you've been stuck on Thea."

"Yes, we love the sister and brother, therefore, we became pseudo siblings. Which is still not unsexy by the way."

"Roy—"

"Hey, you call a man for sex advice at 11:30 p.m. when he's naked in the sheets… I'm just saying." He clears his throat. "I have Nyssa's phone number. Don't go to her place." 

Felicity does not comment on _naked_ , she doesn't dare. She has seen naked Roy, patched him up many times, tended him in a coma, watched his healthy body move through training exercises and then strip to shower right in front of her. He does not know that he has fueled many a solo session. As Dig said, their lives are just too complicated. "Okay, give it to me." And immediately regrets the word choice.

He chuckles, but reads her the number without further editorials. "I'll set an alarm for 2. If I don't have a text from you, I'm coming over. And it won't be for—"

"Thank you, Roy," she says, and hangs up on him. Her hands are shaking. Carefully, she dials Nyssa. 

"Who is this?" Nyssa commands without preamble. 

"I… I got your number from Roy."

"Oh, Felicity. Apologies. Again."

"In the car…." She cannot dither. "Was _that_ what it felt like?"

There is some unexpected measure of humor in the reply, "What did it feel like?"

Felicity's face is hot. "I'm just starting a relationship with a guy. I don't know where it's going, but I'm really focused on him, on making it work. And then, you made me feel… that."

There is a heavy sigh. "Such it is with women who love men. You've no experience with women." It isn't a question. "I must ask you why you are calling." That is said more gently.

"Knowing all the reasons not to, I'd like to see you. Now. As soon as possible." 

"To satisfy your curiosity?"

That makes Felicity angry in an unfamiliar way. "To satisfy a need it seemed we both have. Never mind. Goodnight." She ends the call and resists the strong urge to fling her phone across the room. 

She paces for ten minutes, straightening up the place to cool her jets. An impulse comes over her to call Roy and interrupt what he _must_ be doing right now if it isn't already over, and tempt him to continue together but separately in their own safe spaces. She feels self-loathing for even thinking it. 

It occurs to her that maybe, being celibate for so long, and then rejoining the world of sex, is freaking her out, over-intensifying her appetite, ruining her judgment. She drags in a deep breath, trying to center. And another. She almost doesn't hear the light tapping at her door. She checks the monitor. Nyssa. Her hands are shaking as she unlocks the door. "Of course you know where I live."

"May I come in?" Nyssa asks, cordially.

Felicity steps back, making room, and a dense shadow flicks past her. She bolts the door and turns. 

"I'm not proud of my… psychological state, at the moment," Nyssa says.

"Join the club," replies Felicity. "Is it possible for this to be simple?"

"Possible. Not likely," Nissa answers with a very slight smile. "I'll try."

"Also, you haven't hypnotized me or anything, have you?" She tries to make it light, but there's real concern behind her question. 

"Not with any technique familiar to me," Nyssa answers, her eyes sparkling. "So, I'll accept that question as a sidelong compliment. Are there any odds that your fledgling relationship will come here tonight?"

"He hasn't been to my place yet, and he's out of town. But I've learned to never say never. He won't be coming in without a lot of notice. Take your coat?"

Nyssa swings the heavy canvas and leather almost-armor off and hands it to Felicity. She folds her arms, then appears to rethink the gesture, allowing her arms to settle at her sides. "Is pure, animal attraction simple enough for tonight?"

Hanging the coat by the door, wondering how many weapons it conceals, Felicity nods her head. Suddenly, Nyssa is behind her, pushing her hair aside, nose sliding along her neck, mouth opening to taste her skin. Felicity bites down on a moan as Nyssa finds precisely her favorite spot to be kissed. Arms come around her and she wraps her own over them. Nyssa's hands clasp tightly over her ribs. Teeth, gently, follow Nyssa's lips. Felicity tips her head back against Nyssa's shoulder and joins their mouths. Nyssa's lips are demanding, her tongue fleeting, the hunger tangible. 

A hand leaves her ribs and slides down, pushing under her waistband. She feels like she should protest, that more immediate attention should be paid to reciprocity, but the sensation of Nyssa's bowstring-callused fingers skimming the flesh of her belly paralyzes her voice. She reaches up, behind Nyssa's head and digs her fingers into the thick hair, angling her mouth _better_.

Nyssa makes a sound both urgent and pleased as her fingers connect with Felicity's slippery flesh. Her whole hand works in damnably efficient fashion, her tongue flicking gently in preview just before mirroring a swirl below with her fingers. Her other hand, the one wrapped across Felicity's body, shifts to graze a nipple, to find the best touch for it. Felicity arches up against Nyssa's hands, practically on her tiptoes, weight hard against the other woman. Nyssa's lips slide away. Then, whatever language Nyssa is whispering in her ear, she doesn't comprehend, but it sounds like enthusiastic encouragement. She comes, shuddering, making short, harsh noises. 

She's distantly horrified when Nyssa scoops her up and easily carries her to the bed. She opens her eyes. Nyssa is looking down at her without amusement, just what looks like lust. Felicity sits up and strips Nyssa's black nylon shirt over her head, flicks snaps and zipper on the tight leggings. Then, she looks in dismay at the boots. Nyssa bends and makes short work of those, stepping out of the leggings. In minimal black underwear, Nyssa climbs onto the bed. She pulls Felicity's face back to hers, plays with her mouth with her lips, with a thumb. After a long, slow, few minutes, she painstakingly separates her lips from Felicity's. "Mmm," she says. "May I see you naked?"

This isn't someone to joke with, to make an easy quip like she would with Roy. Conscious of her utter lack of underwear, she elbows her way out of the t-shirt, grateful that Nyssa helps. And then she shimmies out of the sweats, lying back. Nyssa traces invisible patterns with her fingertips. After a few minutes, her eyes are welling. 

Felicity doesn't ask _what_ , instead, "Can I help?"

"You already are," Nissa says, drops pattering on Felicity's breastbone. "You're wonderfully, beautifully athletic, but thankfully _different_. 

Letting a hand slide up Nyssa's arm to her shoulder, Felicity digs in her fingers and rubs. "You made me come in about thirty seconds," she says, face flaming. "In my head, I was going to be better at this."

"I have a feeling you're going to be very good at this. Besides all the benefits of experiencing that with you, I thought perhaps you needed a bit of urgency out of your system. Helps clear confusion."

"I might be overwhelmed, but I'm not confused." Felicity realizes that wherever Nyssa is touching, she's rising up a tiny bit to meet that touch. She grabs Nyssa's other shoulder and rolls to reverse their positions. Nyssa doesn't fight her, just lies there, all soft and waiting. Felicity smoothes her palms in circles over Nyssa's belly and rolls the panties off, down her long legs. She strokes a calf, knee, thigh, and over dark hair, eliciting gooseflesh. She unhooks the front clasp bra and maneuvers Nyssa out of it. Lovely, natural, not-too-big breasts spill out to the sides, areolas crinkling in the chill of the apartment, or for other reasons. Disliking very much how men so often grab straight for the boob, she takes a page from Nyssa's careful approach. "May I touch?" 

"Please," breathes Nyssa. Her legs shift restlessly. Felicity slips down to her side and with a gentle hand, massages outside to inner curve, tests, feels her way as Nyssa responds. Finally, mouth tingling in anticipation, she poises herself and waits for a nod. She engulfs a nipple and part of the flesh, hearing an echo in herself, knowing how it feels. Her tongue swirls over the nipple as she sucks. Nyssa's hand spreads wide on her back, pressing her close. 

With one last squeeze, she abandons the other breast and places her hand over Nyssa's cunt. She slips two fingers inside, rewarded with a sharp gasp. Her thumb circles outside, careful not to flick. Nyssa is velvety wet, her inner muscles grabbing. She rocks against Felicity. Again, the other language, the cadence rising and falling. Felicity kneels up higher, hand moving steadily, and shifts from breast to breast. When Nyssa convulses, she presses hard, stilling her hand, feeling the waves roll through. 

She has time to marvel at the rightness of how she feels. No embarrassment, no guilt, no anticipation of what's next. 

Nyssa heaves a great breath and opens her eyes. She smiles, and it's beautiful to behold. "Animals," she says, winking. She suddenly pushes Felicity to her back and spreads her thighs. Reaching over the edge of the bed, she fumbles in her leggings for a moment. Felicity watches as a package opens, and a large square of latex emerges. Baffled, she observes while Nyssa anchors a corner around her smallest two fingers and unfolds it over Felicity's pussy. The heat of Nyssa's mouth is not much diminished by the thin material, and it catches Felicity somehow unprepared. She moans out loud, a sound that increases sharply as Nyssa's fingers curl inside her. With practiced rhythm, Nyssa works her with lips and tongue, pausing to say, in English, how incredible Felicity smells. 

"It's too soon," Felicity says, trying not to whine the words. She thinks she hears a chuckle. She props her head on one arm and is treated to Nyssa's curvaceous back and ass rising beyond her tossing hair. There's something male in Felicity, always has been, and it registers the posture in a wholly unexpected way. "God, I want to fuck you," she says out loud. Nyssa hums into her task, neither negation nor assent. 

She would need a cock to do that. Or she would need a cock to do it for her. It isn't Ray who appears fully visualized to accommodate, or Oliver, but _Roy_. Probably a figment of their earlier banter, someone safe, whose pleasure she wouldn't guard jealously for herself. She imagines him going in, his eyes sliding closed for a moment before opening to watch. He undulates, driving into Nyssa. Felicity is so familiar with his movements that none of this is hard to imagine. Nyssa's ass flexes, startling her reverie with its accuracy. She realizes that Nyssa is touching herself. "You have such a beautiful cunt," she says, meaning it. 

Nyssa moans at that. Felicity is fairly certain that this woman does not _take_ cock, that this is a decidedly nonlesbian turn of mind she's having, but that doesn't spoil the fantasy. Earlier, Nyssa had gripped her fingers so tightly that she can project how it would feel for a man to be surrounded like that. Roy's face is suffused with concentration and pleasure. The intellectual part of Felicity's brain, still trying to function, wonders how she has conjured the latter expression so well. Suddenly, Felicity feels like she's merged with Roy, giving, not receiving. The pressure on her pleasure center derives from the plunge of her cock into Nyssa. The orgasm takes her by surprise. 

Nyssa is kissing her again, luxuriantly, wrapping their bodies and legs together. Felicity pulls her mouth back. "Did you? Again?" she asks. "I thought so."

"Um hm," Nissa murmurs. 

"I would have—"

"Shh. I did exactly what I wanted."

Felicity weighs candor versus mental privacy. "I imagined fucking you. With a cock. Actually, I imagined someone else fucking you, but then I became him."

"Fascinating. It has been some years since I was with a man. It holds far lesser interest for me. But if you were a man, I think I would feel differently." She strokes hair out of Felicity's face. "Not Oliver, I hope," she scoffs.

"Nooo. Roy."

"Oh, that's easy to see. He's androgynous. Cyn likes him very much. So did Sara. He thinks like we do. He also has strong male attributes. Annoyingly so at times. Still, he could be amusing in bed. I gather that he's _not_ the man with whom you're involved."

It is a shocking amount of verbiage to come from Nyssa. Felicity grins.

"Roy and I are friends. Close, good friends. We'll see whether or not I'm _involved_ once I tell the guy I'm dating about this."

Nyssa toys with Felicity's navel. "You could always acquire wearable equipment. Many women of my persuasion enjoy that as long as there isn't a male attached."

Felicity has to laugh then. "I won't be seeking out other women of _your persuasion_."

"Well, I could make myself available. Or, as I promised, this can just be a spontaneous night of being animals together. I have to say, it was properly medicinal. I feel so much better than I did a few hours ago."

"Me too."

Rolling to her feet, Nyssa starts to dress.

"You don't have to leave."

"Oh, indeed I do. My sleeping habits require certain defensive measures."

"Shit, what time is it?" Felicity bolts up and grabs her phone. She breathes a relieved sigh: 1:45 a.m. She sends a text. _Everything's fine._

Nyssa wrestles into her shirt looking amused. She doesn't ask.

"I called Roy earlier. He was supposed to be the cavalry if I hadn't texted him."

Nyssa actually snickers. "Had we gone on a bit longer, he might have vaulted in through the window in time to embody your imagination. That's about all the damage he could do. Did you really think I might hurt you?"

"I… I didn't know what to expect."

Dressed now, Nyssa sits on the bed and cups the back of Felicity's head. "I hope that any such questions have been answered in a satisfactory fashion. As for me, life is too short and brutal for me to go on missing it, so thank you for being… not rigid. If you find yourself game for further interactions, you might simply think of us for now as enemies with benefits, meeting under truce. At least until I've proven worthy of further trust." 

Felicity leans in and kisses her, a little surprised that the dissipation of sexual energy has not made doing so less pleasurable. 

After she lets Nyssa out and rebolts the door, she picks up her phone. 

It isn't really the time or the manner to tell Ray what happened. She imagines the dismay she would feel if he were to tell her tomorrow that he had been with another woman tonight. She considers how she might feel if the _other_ were a man instead. Would it be different? Her phone buzzes in her hand, interrupting her ethical analysis.

 _How fine_?

_Super fine._

_You alone?_

_Yeah._ The screen flashes with Roy's number and she answers. "Have you actually been asleep?"

"Since, say, ten minutes after our last call," he replies, voice still lifting the veil of sleep, but the subtext is clear. "I had your back, you know." He yawns. "I don't suppose you turned on any of your cameras."

She actually giggles. "No way."

"It was good?"

She shivers. "So good."

"Tell me more."

She's apprehensive, shy, and she wants to tell him, all at the same time. "It's crossing a line we haven't. Although weirdly, you were kinda here for a bit. I think because we talked."

"Okay, that makes me need to hear all about it. We aren't going to stop being us, Felicity. If you were a guy, or I were a woman, we'd share details, right? Some, anyway."

"I've never been much of a talker about sex."

"Hm. Me either." He's quiet for a moment. "Hey, I'll trade you. You tell me about tonight, don't hold back. I'll tell you about the Flash coming up to help me two weeks ago when everyone left Starling to me."

"How is that a fair exchange?" she demands in mock outrage. 

"Oh, but it is," he replies, voice warming. "Unless you tell me that you and Nyssa fought crime and played cards tonight." His tone says so much more.

She's surprised, feels a pang of what might be distant hurt, and then remembers that she put Barry off, not the other way around. Belatedly, it registers with her… _Roy_ and Barry. Her involuntary gasp vibrates with a low note.

"Oh, no. You talk first. That was the deal."

She can hear him rustling the sheets, getting comfortable. "Don't you dare laugh at me," she orders.

"Are you sure _that's_ what you're worried I'll do?" he asks, making the hair stand up along the nape of her neck. She's suddenly glad that she doesn't have any official work to show up for in six hours.  
*******


End file.
